Loom right-hand box front

ABSTRACT

A box front for a loom adapted to guide and position or box a shuttle so that the filling thread may be severed and the bobbin removed without damage to the shuttle or impairing the quality of the cloth being woven.

United States Patent [72] inventor William J. Kelly Rte. 3, Box 468, Rickingham, N.C. 28379 [21 Appl. No. 792,558 [22] Filed Jan. 21, 1969 [45] Patented Feb. 2, 1971 [54] LOOM RIGHT-HAND BOX FRONT 2 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl .1 139/183 [51 Int. Cl D03d 49/52 [50] Field oiSearch 139/183- [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,511,185 10/1924 Davis Primary Examiner-James Kee Chi Attorneys-A. Yates Dowell and A. Yates Dowell, .lr.

ABSTRACT: A box front for a loom adapted to guide and position or box a shuttle so that the filling thread may be severed and the bobbin removed without damage to the shuttle or impairing the quality of the cloth being woven.

PATENTED FEB 2|91| SHEET 2 BF 3 INVENTOR W/ZL/AM JJLEALV MU w m y ATTORNEYJ PATENTED FEB 2m SHEET 3 OF 3 INVENTOR W/MMMJ/(EMY LOOM RIGHT-HAND BOX FRONT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to looms utilized in the weaving of cloth and relates particularly to the guiding or box-- ing of a shuttle so that the bobbin carried thereby may be removed and replaced without damage to the shuttle or the cloth being woven.

2. Description of the Prior Art Many efforts have been made to guide and position the shuttle of a loom utilized in the weaving of cloth. In the normal operation of a cloth weaving loom, a plurality of longitudinal warp threads are positioned on the loom with each thread being raised and lowered by a heddle. Normally alternate heddles are raised and the intennediate heddles are lowered, after which a shuttle carrying a woof thread or filling is thrown across the warp threads and lay plate of the loom by a picker to the opposite side where it is received and arrested by a box. The left-hand box has not presented a particular problem since it merely catches the shuttle and returns it to the other side after the loom reed has "beat up" the woof thread onto the previously woven material and the heddles have reversed the positions of the warp threads. However, the right-hand box has presented many problems since it not only must catch the shuttle and arrest the speed thereof, but also new bobbins are replaced at this side and to do this a thread cutter is inserted through a portion of the box front and into an opening or window within the shuttle. If the shuttle is not positioned within certain minimum limits, the thread cutter will engage the shuttle which is normally made of wood and cause the wood to splinter. These shuttles are relatively expensive since they cost from $8.00 to $15.00 each and replacement of the shuttle not only is time-consuming but a damaged shuttle can cause imperfections or flaws in the cloth. Also engagement of the shuttle by the thread cutter prevents the proper functioning of the cutter which must sever the end of the filling and hold the same while a new bobbin is being placed in the shuttle.

In order to guide the shuttle as it enters the box, a leather faced binder has been located at the rear of the box and a "leather faced box front has been located at the front of the box. The binder and box front have been spaced apart slightly less than the width of the shuttle so that when the shuttle enters it frictionally engages the box front and the binder and causes the speed of the shuttle to be reduced before it reaches the picker. The eye of the shuttle through which the filling thread is discharged from the bobbin is located on the side adjacent to the box front and therefore a large portion of such box front has been spaced above the lay plate of the loom so that the filling was not broken by frictional contact between the shuttle and the box front. In the past the spacing of the box front above the lay plate of the loom has sometimes caused or permitted the the shuttle to be cocked so that the thread cutter could not function properly.

Some efforts have been made to overcome the cocking of the shuttle by locating the major portion of the box front along the lay plate and passing the filling thread over the top thereof. However, this has permitted cocking in the other direction and additionally has increased thread breakage with resulting imperfections in the cloth.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a right-hand box front which is designed primarily for a Draper loom but which could be applied to any conventional loom of similar construction. The box front is adjustably mounted on the lay plate of the loom and includes an upper ledge overlying the shuttle and an enlarged end portion which initially engages the shuttle along substantially the entire width thereof and which extends downwardly to within approximately one-eighth inch of the lay plate. Preferably, both the ledge and the enlarged end portions are faced with leather or other resilient friction-producing material.

It is an object of the invention to provide a right-hand box front for a loom which guides the shuttle to a definite predetermined position so that a thread cutter can engage, hold and cut the filling without causing damage to the shuttle.

It is noted that the normal life of a shuttle in use before applicants invention has been approximately two days to two weeks, and after applicant made his discovery he installed it on a loom under actual working conditions and the same shuttle has lasted approximately five months without apparent damage of any kind. Encouraged by the success of the initial device, the company that employs applicant placed an order for of his devices which were all installed on looms and as yet no shuttle has been ruined by failure of the device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a top plan view of the right-hand box front of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevation thereof.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation of the box front.

FIG. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a section on the line 5-5 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of FIG. 2 illustrating the thread cutter approaching the shuttle.

FIG. 8 is a section similar to FIG. 7 illustrating the thread cutter in position to cut the thread.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged perspective of the box front per se.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With continued reference to the drawings a weaving loom 10 has a lay plate II extending from one side to the other providing a track for a shuttle 12. The shuttle I2 is of conventional construction and includes a generally rectangular body 13 pointed at both ends, and such body has an opening 14 extending entirely through the same in a vertical direction. A relatively small window or opening 15 is provided in one sidewall of the body 13 for receiving the ends of a thread cutter, as will be described later. A friction clamp 16 is mounted adjacent to one end of the opening 14 and such clamp is adapted to receive and support a bobbin [7 having a woof thread or filling 18 thereon. The filling 18 extends through an eye 19 at the opposite end of the body I3 and is adapted to be discharged from one side of the loom to the other by pickers 20, only the right-hand picker being shown.

At each end of the shuttle travel, a shuttle binder 21 is mounted at one end on a pivot pin 22 and the opposite end is urged toward a shuttle-engaging position by a spring 23. The binder 21 preferably has a facing 24 of leather or other resilient material which frictionally engages the shuttle 12 to arrest the movement thereof.

Spaced from and generally parallel to the binder 21 is a right-hand box front including a body 26 having a generally horizontally disposed flattened portion 27 at one end, a bifurcated central portion 28 and a generally vertically disposed curved portion 29 at the other end. In order to mount the body 26 on the lay plate of the loom and to adjust the position thereof, the end portion 27 has an opening 30 which snugly receives a pin 31 carried by the lay plate 1 1. An elongated slot 32 is' spaced from the opening 30 and is adapted to receive a bolt or fastener 33. The flattened end portion 27 preferably has a roughened or serrated area 34 on the upper surface adjacent to the elongated slot 32 in a position to engage the head of the bolt 33 or to engage the lower surface of a washer 35 carried by such bolt. With this construction the body 26 can be pivoted about the pin 31 to an adjusted position after which the bolt 33 is tightened to secure the body in adjusted position.

From the flattened end portion 27 the central portion 28 of the body is enlarged in a vertical direction and is divided into upper and lower portions 36 and 37, respectively. The lower portion rests upon the lay plate 11 while the upper portion is spaced from the lower portion and defines an opening 38 between the upper and lower portions through which a thread cutter 39 is inserted, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. The upper portion 36 includes a lip or flange 40 which extends outwardly of the body 26 to a position overlying the shuttle 12, as illustratcd in FIGS. 5-8v The underside of the lip 40 has a facing 41 of resilient material such as leather, rubber. nylon or the like attached thereto in any desired manner as by an adhesive. It will be understood that the facing 41 of the lip 40 engages the upper surface of the shuttle l2 and limits any upward movement thereof while the shuttle is being boxedt From a position adjacent to the opening 38 the upper portion 36 has a downwardly depending flange 42 which curves downwardly to a position spaced slightly from the plane of the lower surface of the lower portion 37, and such flange continues outwardly to form the curved end portion 37, and such flange continues outwardly to form the curved end portion 29', as illustrated in FIG. 9. The curved end portion 29 and the flange 42 are located in a position generally parallel to the direction of travel of the shuttle l2 and are adapted to be covered by a facing 43 of resilient material such as leather, rubber, nylon or the like, and a similar facing 44 is mounted on the corresponding surface of the lower portion 37.

In the operation of the device a shuttle 12 which has been hurled at great speed by a picker 20 on the left-hand side of the loom crosses the lay plate and enters the right-hand box. During the movement of the shuttle from left to right, the filling thread passes through the eye 19 and moves along the length of the shuttle through a slot 45 (FIG. 6). As the shuttle enters the right-hand box, it engages the facings 24, 41 and 43 and causes the binder 21 to move outwardly against the tension of the spring 23. The facings in engagement with the shuttle will retard the transverse movement thereof and as the shuttle continues to move through the box, the body 26 and the binder 21 cause the shuttle to remain level. The shuttle continues to move through the box until the forward end engages the picker l9 and forces such picker outwardly into cocked position. As soon as the shuttle has been boxed, the reed of the loom will beat up the filling thread against the material which has previously been woven, after which the heddles which are in raised position are lowered and the heddles which are in lowered position are raised. Thereafter the picker 20. on the right-hand side is released and hurls the shut- 'tle back to the other side of the loom. The shuttle is hurled back and forth until the woof or filling thread on the bobbins 17 carried by the shuttle is substantially depleted at which time the thread cutter enters the opening 38 and grasps and scvers the filling thread. When the thread has been cut, the old bobbin is discharged from the shuttle and a new bobbin is inserted therein automatically by conventional machinery. During the insertion of the new bobbin, the thread cutter 36 is retracted and as soon as the new bobbin is in position the picker again is released so that the weaving can continue. It is noted that the thread cutter 39 enters the window of the shuttle and due to the positioning of the shuttle by the body 26 and the binder 21, the thread cutter 39 does not contact the shuttle an and cause damage thereto.

lclaim:

l. A right-hand box front for a weaving loom having a lay plate and a shuttle comprising a body, said body having a flattened portion at one end, means swingably mounting said flattened portion on said lay plate, said flattened portion having a slot spaced from said swingably mounted means and adapted to adjustably receive a fastening member so that said body can be swung about said swingable connection and fixed in ad- 20 justed position by the fastener extending through said slot,

said body having an enlarged bifurcated central portion with upper and lower portions defining an opening therebetween, said upper portion having a lip located above the shuttle of the loom when the shuttle is being boxed, a facing of resilient material fixed to the lower surface of said lip for engagement with the upper surface of the shuttle, the portion of said upper central portion adjacent to said one end having a flange with a generally vertical surface extending downwardly from said lip to a position s aced above the lower central portion and the portion of 5m upper central portion remote from said one end extending downwardly to a position spaced slightly above the lay plate of the loom, said downwardly'extending flange extending outwardly away from said flattened end portion and terminating in a second end portion, said second end portion curving outwardly away from the path of travel of the shuttle along the lay plate, a facing of resilient material fixed to the vertical surface of said downwardly extending flange and adapted to frictionally engage the side of the shuttle when the shuttle is being boxed, and said second end portion being supported solely by the central portion of said body, whereby said body will guide the shuttle into a predetermined position and will assist in the arresting of the forward motion thereof.

2. The structure of claim I in which said resilient material is leather. 

1. A right-hand box front for a weaving loom having a lay plate and a shuttle comprising a body, said body having a flattened portion at one end, means swingably mounting said flattened portion on said lay plate, said flattened portion having a slot spaced from said swingably mounted means and adapted to adjustably receive a fastening member so that said body can be swung about said swingable connection and fixed in adjusted position by the fastener extending through said slot, said body having an enlarged bifurcated central portion with upper and lower portions defining an opening therebetween, said upper portion having a lip located above the shuttle of the loom when the shuttle is being boxed, a facing of resilient material fixed to the lower surface of said lip for engagement with the upper surface of the shuttle, the portion of said upper central portion adjacent to said one end having a flange with a generally vertical surface extending downwardly from said lip to a position spaced above the lower central portion and the portion of said upper central portion remote from said one end extending downwardly to a position spaced slightly above the lay plate of the loom, said downwardly extending flange extending outwardly away from said flattened end portion and terminating in a second end portion, said second end portion curving outwardly away from the path of travel of the shuttle along the lay plate, a facing of resilient material fixed to the vertical surface of said downwardly extending flange and adapted to frictionally engage the side of the shuttle when the shuttle is being boxed, and said second end portion being supported solely by the central portion of said body, whereby said body will guide the shuttle into a predetermined position and will assist in the arresting of the forward motion thereof.
 2. The structure of claim 1 in which said resilient material is leather. 